Page 104 of One Secret

Oh, and avenge my murder, if you happen to have the time...

'Just keeping you informed in case I don't.'

'Wait, Cyrus—'

I hang up the call, fire off instructions to Nat via text message, and then turn front and center as the elevator doors ding closed. When they open again, they reveal Hector Ramirez with a gun in his hand and a whole lot of pissed off on his face.

My last thought stepping out of the elevator is Darcy's voice in my head.

"I didn't think you'd want to know..."

13

The Principessa d'Oro is the largest vessel in the Nisí tou Chrysoú marina.

Golden inlays decorate an otherwise flawless ivory body from stem to stern. Its name, emblazoned across the bow, looked navy in the daylight yesterday. Now, it sucks in the lamplight from the docks and stares at me ominously in inky black cursive. The silver safety rails along the hull are a cool shade of iron in the moonlight, like the bars of a cage. At the cruiser's rear is an open deck, lit from the inside and surrounded by all the luxuries one might find on land: couches, coffee tables, and enough fabric comfort to defy the salty sea breeze. Inside the ship are equally rich trappings for those who prefer the shade with a darker, narrow staircase leading into the belly of the boat.

It's up from these depths that Felix Caruso makes his entrance, just as Ramirez nudges me over the railing and onto the open rear deck.

'Alesi...' Felix greets, subtly dropping the formal prefix. I'm too preoccupied in the head to worry about his power games. 'So, good of you to join me.'

Three large men, plus Ramirez and Felix's cousin Rocco, are hovering on the edge of the boat and along the pier it's anchored to. I try to keep them all in my peripheral.

'It didn't seem like a choice,' I respond, glancing pointedly at the weapon still in Ramirez's hand.

Felix eyes his mercenary with a reproachful look that I don't buy for a second.

'Then Hector must have not expressed my invitation correctly. Come, come...'

He encourages me to take a seat on the rear deck and then offers to fashion me with a drink. I decline and he fixes himself an Old Fashioned.

'I thought you might enjoy a little after-dark sailing whilst you're here?' Felix suggests casually. 'The sea, the sky... It's really as impressive at night as it is during the day.'

"I'm pregnant..."

God, was Darcy telling the truth? A kid? A baby?

'Alesi?' Caruso nudges when I just stare at him blankly.

For fuck's sake! Get your head in the game!

Leaning into the couch with an arm across its back, I glance over my shoulder at the sea beyond.

I activated a tracer request with Nat whilst being escorted down to the docks. Here in the marina, she'll have no difficulty reading me on satellite imaging. Too far out to sea and I might be risking her scope of surveillance. Which would mean no evidence of my death should Felix be truly on to me.

'I can see the waves and stars just fine from here,' I point out. 'You sure the view will be any better beyond the harbor? Alone?'

The pointed reminder that Felix wouldn't be the only predator out on the water has the Caruso head chuckling.

'I don't trust you either, Alesi. But fine...' he nods in deference to my suggestion.

"...trust is a choice."

Taking the seat across from me, Felix hooks an ankle over the opposing knee. The real leather of his boots gleams in the romantic lamplight.

'If you feel safer here at dockside, we'll remain.'

It's a baited question, designed to have me defend my courage and insist on shipping out. I almost bite. Which just goes to show how rocked I am.

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